Prehistoric marine reptiles move into museum

Yin Yeping - 

Truth is stranger than fiction, and nature has come up with some beasties that are more monstrous than any creatures Hollywood could come up with. For example, step into the Beijing Museum of Natural History, where an ongoing exhibition gives new life to creatures that lived here more than 200 million years ago.

The 500-square-meter exhibition of Triassic marine reptiles includes the remains of a pregnant Ichthyosaurus from the southwestern part of China, which 200 million years ago was a vast ocean. Among the "sea monsters" on display is the biggest and best-preserved marine reptile ever discovered in China, a Shastasaurus skeleton that is nearly 100-percent complete, including its meter-long skull that incredibly survived the millennia in one piece.

There is a complete fossil of a Lystrosaurus, a dog-like reptile that existed in the early Triassic period 250 to 200 million years ago, and is about a meter long and, honestly, kind of cute. It was a vegetarian and lived near the water.

Fearful creatures are also displayed, like the Vjushkovia, a huge creature with sharp teeth, and the Qianosuchus Mixtus, a ferocious amphibious predator that could grow at about three meters long. A type of Archosaur, it had strong limbs and could walk as well as swim.

Most of the Ichthyosaurus fossils here were excavated from Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

If Shastasaurus is one of the largest fossils in this exhibition, then the 2-centimeters baby Icthyosaurus is one of the smallest. The Chaohu Ichthyosaurus that was discovered in Chaohu, Anhui Province is only about one meter long and is the oldest Ichthyosaurus of its kind so far discovered. Other small marine lives such as ancient shrimp, sea chestnuts and different kinds of fish can also be seen here.

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Global Times

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